Page 16 - Flathead Beacon // 12.7.16

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Those ve words have become a familiar if eerie
refrain to research scientists and state management agencies since the Nov. 8 discovery of destructive mus- sel larvae in Tiber and Canyon ferry res- ervoirs east of the Continental Divide, marking the rst time the invasive spe- cies have been detected in Montana waters and pulling a dire scenario into grisly focus.
As state o cials, stakeholders and independent research institutions deploy resources to combat an aquatic enemy at the gates, the future remains uncertain.
An infestation of zebra or quagga mus- sels could spell the beginning of the end for Montana’s most pristine watersheds, holding the potential to topple under- water food webs that prop up the Trea- sure State’s prized aquatic species while wreaking untold havoc on its infrastruc- ture and recreation economy.
“This is a huge deal. We have been bracing ourselves for this for a long time and hoped it would never happen,” Tom Bansak, assistant director of the Flathead Lake Biological Station, said. “Well, it’s here, it’s now, it’s real, and the only possi- ble chance of getting rid of them is nding them early and in a localized area.”
So far, the traces of contamination are restricted to the Missouri River Basin, but the likelihood of mussels hitchhiking on the hulls of boats or in bilge water or cloistered away in irrigation equipment has risen to a fever pitch. The threat of mussel infestation hits especially close to home for those working to protect the waters of Flathead Lake and its sur- rounding network of rivers and creeks, and it comes to rest at the doorstep of the Columbia River Basin — the only major watershed in the West still believed to be free of quagga and zebra mussels.
Scientists and conservation groups have issued a clarion call for aggressive
steps to stem the infestation’s spread, while the University of Montana’s Flat- head Lake Biological Station at Yellow Bay launched a sophisticated water-sam- pling campaign to test for mussel DNA in Flathead Lake.
“If we in the Flathead Basin are not yet infested, this is likely our last opportunity to put in place, in time for the next boat- ing season, the strongest practical safe- guards to ensure we remain free of these enormously destructive invasive species, which could devastate our resources and our economy,” stated a Nov. 22 letter to Gov. Steve Bullock, authored by leaders of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Blackfeet Nation and the Flat- head Basin Commission, a group tasked with protecting aquatic resources, who urged immediate executive action.
On Nov. 30, Bullock announced a statewide natural resource emergency for Montana water bodies, and a day later, state agencies imposed restrictions
on the two reservoirs where the species have turned up (positive detections have since been made on the Milk River near Malta, downriver from Nelson Reservoir, and the Missouri River near York).
Although the executive order drew universal praise from stakeholders in the Missouri and Columbia basins, and frees up nancial resources to address the threat, many observers were dis- mayed that the state waited as long as it did to act.
According to Greg Lemon, information bureau chief for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the state was noti ed Oct. 17 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that a “suspect sample” had been discovered in Tiber Reservoir near Shelby. The state prioritized its water samples from Tiber while gathering additional samples, and subsequent lab results con rmed the pos- itive detection of larvae of an unidenti ed invasive mussel species, either a quagga or zebra. Additional testing later identi ed
16
DECEMBER 7, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
COVER
INVASIVE SPECIES
Under Siege BY TRISTAN SCOTT
One of the most devastating invasive species in the world has arrived at the gateway of the Flathead Basin, posing ecological and economic consequences that could imperil the pristine watershed forever